Diane Goodstein Biography – Diane Goodstein Wiki

Diane Goodstein serves as a circuit court judge in South Carolina. Her appointment to the role of Resident Circuit Judge for the First Judicial Circuit was made by the South Carolina General Assembly in May 1998. Besides her duties as judge, she has been appointed to the Circuit Court Judges Advisory Committee and actively participates in the Commission on Judicial Conduct.

Judge Goodstein pursued her early education in South Carolina’s elementary and secondary schools and earned her bachelor’s degree in 1978 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She further achieved her Juris Doctorate from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1981.

Her legal career began at the firm Goodstein, Bowling, Douglas & Phillips as an associate from 1981 until 1983. That year, she emerged as a Partner/Vice President at the Summerville firm Goodstein & Goodstein, P.A., where she practiced alongside her husband, Arnold S. Goodstein, until 1998. Additionally, she was appointed as the County Attorney for Dorchester County from 1986 to 1988.

Judge Goodstein has also contributed to the community as a former Board Member of the Greater Summerville Chamber of Commerce, Hospice of Charleston, and My Sister’s House. Her service extends to being part of the South Carolina Bar Professional Responsibility Committee and the Dorchester County Centennial Committee.

A committed member of the South Carolina Bar Association, Judge Goodstein has actively participated as a speaker at numerous seminars. She dedicates part of her time to preparing local high school students for the South Carolina Mock Trial Competition. Her professional affiliations include the Dorchester County Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

Diane Goodstein Age

Judge Diane Schafer Goodstein was born in 1955 in Dillon, South Carolina, to parents Joseph M. Schafer and Helen Schafer Mast.

Diane Goodstein Husband

In her personal life, Judge Diane Goodstein is married to Arnold Samuel Goodstein. Arnold is an attorney in Summerville and has formerly served as a Member of the House of Representatives, South Carolina Senator, and Commissioner for the Department of Transportation. He is affiliated with the Democratic Party.

Diane Goodstein Family

Diane Goodstein and her husband, Arnold S. Goodstein, have two children, Arnold Samuel Goodstein II and Eve Schafer Goodstein. Arnold has a daughter, Carmel Ann, from a previous marriage.

Diane Goodstein Political Party

Is South Carolina Circuit Court judge Diane Goodstein a Democrat or a Republican? Judge Diane Goodstein is non-partisan. She does not have any known affiliation with a political party. The judge is married to a long time Democratic politician Arnold Goodstein.

Diane Goodstein Salary

South Carolina Circuit Court judge Diane Goodstein receives an annual salary of $262,300.

Diane Goodstein Religion

Judge Diane Goodstein is a Jew. She is a member of the Charleston Temple Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (KKBE), the birthplace of Reform Judaism in America and home to the oldest sanctuary in continuous use for Jewish worship in America.

House Fire

On October 4, 2025, the Edisto Beach home of South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein and her husband, former state Sen. Arnold Goodstein (D-Charleston), burned down, leaving three people hospitalized, according to authorities and reports.

The home, located off Planters Retreat in the Jeremy Cay Community, is partially surrounded by trees and a marshy area of Edisto Island. That made it particularly difficult to rescue Arnold, after he jumped out the back of the house to escape the blaze, a neighbor said.

Judge Goodstein had been on the beach walking her dogs at the time her home caught fire. She informed resident Tom Peterson that her husband was injured and stranded in a marshy area behind the home, the Post and Courier reported.

Several neighbors aided paramedics as they rescued former S.C. senator Arnold Goodstein using a canoe and a rope to pull him from the tricky terrain, Peterson told the newspaper. Two additional people were rescued from the same area, according to the St. Paul’s Fire District fire chief.

Three people were hospitalized with injuries, one of whom had to be air-evacuated to the Medical University of South Carolina, according to Cpt. K.C. Campbell with the Colleton County Fire Rescue. The extent of their injuries had not been publicly released on Oct. 5.

The State Law Enforcement Division confirmed it is actively investigating the incident. SLED has not publicly said what it believes may have caused the large house fire.

Property records confirm the couple owns the house, and the South Carolina Supreme Court confirmed in a news release that it is aware of an incident involving Goodstein.